 Onoo in 2018 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Kazuo Onoo (1962-07-29)July 29, 1962 (age 63) Japan |
Spouse | Julie Onoo |
| Children | 4 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Kazuo Sonny Onoo Kazuo Ishikawa Kensuke Ishikawa Sonny Onoo |
| Billed from | "His many homes around the world." |
| Debut | March 1995 |
| Retired | November 1999 |
Kazuo Onoo (born July 29, 1962) is a Japanese-Americanprofessional wrestlingmanager, and actor better known by hisring nameSonny Onoo (/ˈoʊnoʊ/OH-noh). He is best known for his appearances withWorld Championship Wrestling between 1995 and 1999 as the manager of many of thepromotion's Japanese performers. He now lives modestly with his family and owns XTC Auto in Mason City, Iowa.[1]
Onoo was a qualifiedmartial artist, competing in internationalkickboxing and martial arts tournaments between 1975 and 1987. TheProfessional Karate Association named him the bestbantamweight in the world, and he won numerous accolades. While touring as a martial artist, Onoo befriendedEric Bischoff in the 1970s.
In 1994, Bischoff, by now the president ofWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW), hired Onoo as an off-camera international consultant. Onoo was the liaison between WCW andNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), negotiating the talent exchange programs that saw numerous Japanese performers appear with WCW. Onoo's on-screen debut (billed as karate championKazuo Sonny Onoo) was in March 1995 at theUncensoredpay-per-view as a special referee in a Martial Arts match betweenHacksaw Jim Duggan andMeng. A month later, he would be seen again asKensuke Ishikawa, a member of the WCW International committee who voted forRic Flair to be reinstated as a wrestler (Flair had lost a retirement match toHulk Hogan at the 1994Halloween Havoc). Onoo (referred to asKazuo Ishikawa) also co-hosted the WCW presentation ofCollision in Korea alongsideEric Bischoff andMike Tenay.
Later in 1995, Onoo became the on-screen managerSonny Onoo, translating for a number of Japanese wrestlers who could not speakEnglish. Hissignature look consisted of a stylish suit and smallsunglasses. AtStarrcade on December 27, 1995, Onoo led Team New Japan (Jushin Thunder Liger,Koji Kanemoto,Masahiro Chono,Masa Saito,Shinjiro Otani,Hiroyoshi Tenzan andKensuke Sasaki) against Team WCW in a best-of-seven World Cup series.[2] When Chono made a special appearance onWCW Monday Nitro in 1996, Chono immediatelyturned on him and became the first international member of theNew World Order (nWo). Later, in 1997, Onoo brought in another New Japan star,The Great Muta, as a mystery opponent to get revenge on Chono. Like Chono, Muta immediately turned on Onoo, spitting hismist in Onoo's face before joining Chono in nWo Japan.
During this time, Onoo also managed theÚltimo Dragón. Thanks to his interference, Dragon defeatedDean Malenko to win theWCW Cruiserweight Championship at WCW'sStarrcade pay-per-view in 1996. This win temporarily unified the title with the eight championships of theJ-Crown. Dragon lost the J-Crown to Jushin Thunder Liger in Japan, while remaining WCW Cruiserweight Champion. He lost that title in a rematch with Malenko at WCW'sClash of the Champions XXXIV supercard, afterbotched interference by Onoo. Dragon then won theWCW Television Championship fromPrince Iaukea on aNitro in April and defended the title against former championSteven Regal atSlamboree. Throughout the match, Onoo attempted to interfere on Dragon's behalf, but Dragon, preferring to win the match himself, admonished Onoo. Onoo then turned on Dragon, allowing Regal apply the Regal Stretch on Dragon to win back the title by submission.
In August 1996, Onoo managedBull Nakano in her feud withMadusa.[3] At WCW'sHog Wild event, Madusa defeated Nakano in the match with the stipulation that she was then allowed to destroy Nakano's motorcycle.[3] At this time, Onoo also managedMalia Hosaka.[4] Onoo then managedAkira Hokuto who won theWCW Women's Championship over Madusa in the finals of the tournament to crown the first champion on December 29 atStarrcade inNashville, Tennessee.[5][6] On April 6, 1997, Hokuto retained the title against Madusa atSpring Stampede.[7] The feud between Hokuto and Madusa culminated in aTitle vs. Career match on June 15 atThe Great American Bash won by Hokuto.[8] Madusa was forced to "retire" due to a stipulation.[9] This was the last time Hokuto ever appeared in WCW and the Women's Championship was apparently dropped, as it was never defended or mentioned again.
Onoo also turned his attention to managing many of WCW'sluchadores, taking bothPsychosis andLa Parka under his wing tofeud with Dragon. Psychosis faced Dragon in a "Respect match" at the 1997Great American Bash, losing by submission to the Dragon Sleeper. Later, when luchadorKonnan joined the nWo, Onoo sent both Psychosis and La Parka after him in subsequent matches onNitro, with both ending in defeat. Giving up on luchadores, Onoo managed WCW newcomerYuji Nagata, to once again feud with Dragon. Nagata defeated Dragon by submission atHalloween Havoc and again by pinfall atWorld War 3, in a match where, had Dragon won, he would have five minutes in the ring alone with Onoo.[10][11] Onoo parted ways with Nagata soon afterward.
Onoo later became the manager ofErnest Miller and feuded withPerry Saturn, and laterJerry Flynn. Onoo'scharacter spokebroken English and described himself as "money-hungry, deceitful, conniving, and violent." During this time, he had a few matches, which he won. His character was originally depicted as an eccentrictourist who would takephotographs of everyone he encountered. In general, their team was a reminiscence of theJackie Chan's andChris Tucker's characters from the filmRush Hour.
After being released by WCW in November 1999 (Bischoff was by then no longer with the company), Onoo,Bobby Walker,Hardbody Harrison and severalAfrican American wrestlers launched aracial discriminationlawsuit againstAOL Time Warner. In the lawsuit, Onoo claimed wrongful dismissal.[2] Onoo also said that he had been given a disrespectful gimmick and that his final salary—$160,000—was only half of the average pay for a wrestler at that time.[12] The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court.[13]
